Title of Lesson: Japanese Internment Camps

Goals and Objectives

Students will be able to explain America's justification for the internment of Japanese Americans.

Students will be able to describe the conditions and treatment of the Japanese Americans during internment.

Students will be able explain the impact that the internment camps had on the Japanese American way of life.

California State Content Standards

11.7.5 Discuss the constitutional issues and impact of events on the U.S. home front, including the internment of Japanese Americans (e.g., Fred Korematsu v. United States of America) and the restrictions on German and Italian resident aliens; the response of the administration to Hitler's atrocities against Jews and other groups; the roles of women in military production; and the roles and growing political demands of African Americans.

Lesson Introduction:

Students will analyze the political cartoon pictured below. They will be asked to describe what they see in the cartoon and be asked what they think the cartoon means.

Vocabulary:

Here are some vocabulary words and key people that will be covered:

Internment, Japanese American Citizens League, Fred Korematsu

Content Delivery:

The content of this lesson will be delivered through the use of primary source documents. Students will read and analyze primary source documents that relate to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Student Engagement:

Students will view this video http://archive.org/details/Japanese1943 and take notes while watching the video. After the video, students will then discuss in groups the following questions and then a class discussion will follow.

What were some of the reasons for internment offered in the newsreel?

How does the newsreel portray internment? Is it positive or negative?

Who do you think the audience was for this newsreel?

Students will then begin to read primary source documents concerning the internment of Japanese Americans. Students will read documents B and C and then respond to the following questions in groups.

Do you find these documents more or less trustworthy than the

government newsreel? Why or why not?

Why is the date of the Munson report important?

What was the author trying to accomplish in writing this document?

Students will then read primary source documents D and E and then respond to the following questions in their groups.

Which of these documents do you think has a better explanation of Japanese internment? Why?

Why were Japanese Americans interned during World War II? Ask students to point to evidence in the documents to support their answers.

Demonstrated Learning:

Students will hand in their worksheet that they will fill out while reading the primary source documents. Teacher will also be able to get feedback during the class discussion on the primary source documents. Also, the teacher will be able to monitor progress through the closing exit ticket activity.

Lesson Closure:

The lesson will close out with an exit ticket activity. Students will write down 3 reasons why they think Japanese Americans were interned during World War II. This will be handed in at the end of class as students exit the classroom.

Accommodations:

ELL and Special needs students will be provided with a vocabulary list so they will have definitions of words that might be difficult for them in the reading. The students will be broken into groups that will help them with their social interaction skills and also help them in completing the assignment and understanding the readings. A visual is used at the beginning of class with a political cartoon this benefits both ELL students as well as special needs students.